Did I just make my first mistake?

[CarolinaShoreReef]

Hello everyone,

 

Bought this trumpet at the LFS that I don't particularly like for $20 thinking it was a good price. A lot of the heads are bleached and there's heavy algal growth on it. It's got 8 living heads on it with one in the process of splitting. Did I get jipped and make my first mistake with coral purchase? Or, should I be satisfied with it at that price? 

 

Not it sure what to think. Thanks for your help. 

[WV Reefer]

1 hour ago, CarolinaShoreReef said:

Hello everyone,

 

Bought this trumpet at the LFS that I don't particularly like for $20 thinking it was a good price. A lot of the heads are bleached and there's heavy algal growth on it. It's got 8 living heads on it with one in the process of splitting. Did I get jipped and make my first mistake with coral purchase? Or, should I be satisfied with it at that price? 

 

Not it sure what to think. Thanks for your help. 

I think they took your $20 and ran.   

 

it looks pretty sad...... doesn’t mean it can’t make a come back but I wouldn’t buy from the person who sold you that again. 

[HarryPotter]

The coral is dying. Can it recover with care and good water conditions? Yes. But I would not shop their again.

[Lugmos12]

I would remove the healthy heads into frags and get rid of the dead skeleton/tissue.

[CarolinaShoreReef]

Thanks for your help guys. Not getting anything else from them anymore, I've found that I could have saved so much time and money at fintastic, which I prefer and recommend. Can I frag it with coral cutters or a dremel tool and do I make those cuts at the base? 

[Flexin]

i would not frag it until healthy again.

 

[CarolinaShoreReef]

Okay, that's if it recovers I guess. Should I bother trying to feed it when its tentacles come out at night or let it get all of its nutrients from the lights? 

[Lugmos12]

8 minutes ago, CarolinaShoreReef said:

Thanks for your help guys. Not getting anything else from them anymore, I've found that I could have saved so much time and money at fintastic, which I prefer and recommend. Can I frag it with coral cutters or a dremel tool and do I make those cuts at the base? 

I think cutters work. There are some youtube videos that show you how to do it.

[CarolinaShoreReef]

Just now, Lugmos12 said:

I think cutters work. There are some youtube videos that show you how to do it.

I just watched some and didn't know what to think because of all the dislikes on them. 

[Lugmos12]

30 minutes ago, CarolinaShoreReef said:

I just watched some and didn't know what to think because of all the dislikes on them. 

maybe let the coral adjust to your tank for a few days and see if it improves. i would then frag off the healthy heads if the coral doesn’t seem to be doing any better 

[HarryPotter]

42 minutes ago, CarolinaShoreReef said:

Thanks for your help guys. Not getting anything else from them anymore, I've found that I could have saved so much time and money at fintastic, which I prefer and recommend. Can I frag it with coral cutters or a dremel tool and do I make those cuts at the base? 

 

Stay an inch or so below the flesh and it will just be skeleton. You can absolutely frag it, it will not effect the "live" part of the coral. 

 

Feeding it when you see the tentacles would be good  

[CarolinaShoreReef]

17 minutes ago, Lugmos12 said:

maybe let the coral adjust to your tank for a few days and see if it improves. i would then frag off the healthy heads if the coral doesn’t seem to be doing any better 

Sounds like a plan. Thanks for helping out! 

[CarolinaShoreReef]

16 minutes ago, HarryPotter said:

 

Stay an inch or so below the flesh and it will just be skeleton. You can absolutely frag it, it will not effect the "live" part of the coral. 

 

Feeding it when you see the tentacles would be good  

Sounds good. I will see if my lfs (not the same one) is willing to take it under their care in exchange for some frags off of it or something like that. Thanks again for your help! 

[jambon]

Why not give it some T L C it's not rare or anything... great learning experience. Give it a bit of food, some medium light and some good water conditions. They can be photosynthetic...

  As far as fragging goes it won't

 help but as it sits you will have less handling and stressing and more to get it to hold onto your reef.

[CarolinaShoreReef]

2 minutes ago, jambon said:

Why not give it some T L C it's not rare or anything... great learning experience. Give it a bit of food, some medium light and some good water conditions. They can be photosynthetic...

 

I plan on doing that. If everything goes south with it I'll consider having my lfs take it under their wings. Thanks for helping. 

[Clown79]

I'd call the store you purchased it from and complain. There looks to be 1 head alive, everything else is skeleton.

[samnaz]

I wouldn't even worry about fragging it now. The dead skeletons won't make a difference in wether it recovers or not. Fragging it now will do nothing but stress it out further. Wait until the couple of living heads have fully recovered. 

[samnaz]

And incase you didn't notice, be sure to keep an eye on that Valonia (bubble algae) in that skeleton and carefully remove it or it'll spread fast. 

 

Pps, screw that LFS. This frag is worth $2 tops.

[CarolinaShoreReef]

On 2/26/2018 at 1:33 AM, Clown79 said:

I'd call the store you purchased it from and complain. There looks to be 1 head alive, everything else is skeleton.

It's not worth my time to complain.

[CarolinaShoreReef]

2 hours ago, samnaz said:

And incase you didn't notice, be sure to keep an eye on that Valonia (bubble algae) in that skeleton and carefully remove it or it'll spread fast. 

 

Pps, screw that LFS. This frag is worth $2 tops.

Should I clip those dead skeletons off or just go at that algae with a tooth brush? 

[HarryPotter]

5 hours ago, Clown79 said:

I'd call the store you purchased it from and complain. There looks to be 1 head alive, everything else is skeleton.

 

I see 6 

11 minutes ago, CarolinaShoreReef said:

Should I clip those dead skeletons off or just go at that algae with a tooth brush? 

 

Both, but don’t scrub in the tank. It’ll spread it. 

[CarolinaShoreReef]

15 minutes ago, HarryPotter said:

 

I see 6 

 

Both, but don’t scrub in the tank. It’ll spread it. 

Ok, I will do that when I get back thanks! 

[CarolinaShoreReef]

Having 'saved' so much money elsewhere (having a consumer surplus), this mistake doesn't phase me as much as it should I guess. I'll be using it as a great learning experience and update you all every so often on the status of it. Thanks for everyone's help! 

[CarolinaShoreReef]

I'm thinking that it looks way better today after moving it up on the rock. Everything looks "fuller." What do you guys thinks? 

[Lugmos12]

I would move it so that the fleshy heads don't rub up against the rock (on the right).